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bul-bor · 2 years

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hws baltic headcanons

i have been home from school for two weeks and im already mind-numbingly bored

here are head-canons for the baltics bc they’re the best, also gonna add what ages i think they are physically bc the ones they have are Not Correct

As a trio...

they go on a baltic tour every couple years! they take like... 5-6 weeks off of work to travel their countries together and appreciate each other’s cultures :D they always start in Lithuania and go north from there

Raivis can’t drink in public due to how he looks physically, so he ends up DD’ing a lot of the time

eduard has transitional frames and gets laughed at every time for them

eduard and raivis can certainly TRY and get tolys to play video games with them, but he can only learn one console at a time (”I brought my ‘Whee’ remote for games!” “Tolys, it’s on your phone.”)

When they live together/vacation together, Tolys is very much the “it’s 6:30, let’s get our day going!!” (when he’s having a good day)

eduard is only on 4 hours of sleep by 6:30

raivis doesn’t move from his bed until 11:30 AM MINIMUM

in world meetings they’ll pass notes to each other and do hypotheticals and bets to pass the time

3 v. 1 who do you think we can take in a fight RIGHT now? -E

lunch says that the meeting ends early for the world cup qualifying match -r

Be honest- Do you two think that aliens are actually real?? No wrong answers :) -T

Lithuania/Tolys (26)

he’s not a pushover!! i think, if anything, he’s conflict-avoidant, but he picks his battles

along with this, he’s gotten A LOT more vocal with how he feels. Not necessarily to an Alfred or Ludwig level, but he does find himself raising his hand 3 or 4 times during meetings

i! think he plays the guitar :) is he good at it? different question

but his singing is not the worst, so it kind of makes up for it

big dogs or bust

he def gets a dog, in part to stay active and to get out of the house at least once a day

journals on the regular and is learning to establish boundaries with others

i think he’s pretty goofy and mischievous behind closed doors >:)

doesn’t drink coffee anymore

UNDER THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES*, loves arm wrestling because he wins 80% of the time and almost everyone is surprised by it

*has ingested enough alcohol to not be shy about it

Estonia/Eduard (23)

knows he’s the most musically inclined between the three of them, isn’t humble about it in the slightest

GOSSIPER- you’ll be like “nobody can know this” and eduard will be like “nobody = tolys and raivis”

raivis and tolys won’t tell anyone for sure tho

likes to bring the Nordics and the Baltics together for small parties

this group dynamic works surprisingly well!

one time, tolys brought along feliks and throwing feliks into the mix somehow off-sets this balance so bad

super grouchy without 8 hours of sleep

coffee drinker ONLY on days when he needs it

developed a dependence for a little bit, then never forgot the migraine he had when he missed his morning cup

loves other people’s animals, doesn’t necessarily want his own

he likes anything to do with water- boating? bet. fishing? bait. oh we’re swimming? he has trunks on underneath his slacks

the con to this is that he burns the easiest out of the three

Latvia/Raivis (16 (but he has a baby face))

i think he’s HILARIOUS online, but cannot land a punchline in person to save his life

cat person for sure

now that he lives alone, he had to adapt a new routine to turn all the lights off in his house without absolutely sobbing

tolys ALSO has this problem, so they end up on the phone with each other anxiously warbling while they run around their separate houses

saw someone else say this, cannot remember who, but every time, without fail, raivis falls asleep on the train

it was thru one of eduard’s get togethers that he got his little gig babysitting sealand

REALLY wants all the younger appearing nations to all hang out, but is much to shy to initiate it

accident prone as hell, if he can avoid complicated cooking he will

BUT, if someone’s with him, he his all for utilizing his entire kitchen for a single meal

#hws #hetalia #hws lithuania #hws latvia #hws estonia #hetalia world stars #axis powers hetalia #aph lithuania #aph latvia #aph estonia #hws baltics #aph baltics #9 years of hell to this fandom #and i still have more

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my-hyperfixation-trash-can · 3 years

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Hetalia’s Russia and DID/OSDD 1-b

Hey! So @autistic-hetalia your blog said you accept neurodiverse head canons and I thought maybe I could share this one with your blog!

I believe the Hetalia character of Russia has OSDD 1-b (Otherwise Specified Disociative Disorder or possibly DID, being Dissociative Identity Disorder) and this is why.

Just a note,

There is no such thing as an evil alter. Do not demonize people with DID or Other Dissociative Disorders! Those with this disorder are victims of Trauma and are likely to continue being victims of abusers, rarely do they become abusers!

Anyways, -cough cough- I’d love if anyone wants to add to this with more evidence!

1. Russia had a traumatic childhood

He is shown to have had abusive bosses who would punish him. He is threatened by one to invent steam power by the end of the week or be punished. Tartar Yoke mentioned by Lithuania as one of his bosses was also known for his cruelty. So the Authority figured in his youth were often cruel and held power over him.

His environment is cold and unforgiving much like an abusive home. Russia often describes his home as cold, quiet and lonely. He rarely found support from his land and often struggled to get by. The environment and home were harsh with little support. It is also implied he froze to death each Winter, and celebrated the year he didn’t.

This is on top of having to deal with other nations attacking him, making him feel helpless. Many nations “bullied” him in attempts to conquer him. He was mobed and pursed every day by Mongolia. That is exhausting to have everyone around you be a threat. (Lithuania and his sisters were the only nations kind to him in his youth) Early on, he learns that force and strength are what matters.

Next point tw sexual abuse and assault

He also felt a great deal of responsibility to care for his sisters. He was close to them, as they were experiencing similar issues and not violent to him. He had to be the strong one. Belarus and her unhealthy attachment to Russia depending on the age she started her behaviors may have also contributed to his trauma. All of the siblings have unhealthy attitudes towards boundaries with their bodies and the bodies of others, implying another type of abuse. Ukraine and Belarus took victim roles. Russia took on an abusers. Ukraine only ever suggests using her body to get what she wants as if never taught anything else, even as a child that’s what she knows. Belarus I don’t know where to begin, but her staring off is certainly dissociative like, paired with other trust issues. In a diary entry she is stated to have possibly messaged Ukraine’s breasts, once again showing more unhealthy boundaries with attachments to loved ones. Someone taught her that. And Russia, who internalized his abusers, acted out his abuse on others as implied with Lithuania looking distressed dressed as a maid and Russia holding a whip. In another non canon game Himaura worked on, Bulgaria in the bad ending is shown tied up and naked implied to be whipped by Russia as Russia says this is “tradition” or possibly more routine implying this is something he does often.

The idea with dissociative disorders is that the repetitive trauma that happens has to be too much for the mind of that individual child in comparison to the culture they’re raised in, and it conflicts with getting their needs met. And to the countries, all of them know Russia has had a life with far more conflicts in his youth than most, and a great deal of pain.

2. Russia has General Winter (GW for short)

General Winter manifests when Russia is being attacked by other nations in order to defend him, or to be a tormentor to Russia himself (such as freezing him to death each Winter).

This is oddly similar to what is known as a persecutor alter. These alters have the goal in mind to protect the host or body, but they’re a bit misguided in how to do that. They might take on the form of an abuser, or something outside the body, this turns into being an Introject. I’ll post a link to more info on DID/OSDD at the end of the post. The educational videos playlist will have a video on alter roles.

Russia’s bosses often abused him, and if he had an alter like this it would make sense that it would take the form of a general, someone in power who feels so much bigger and stronger than him. A boss who can push him around and make him behave in a way that will avoid further trauma from the real abusers. Winter the season, being another tormenting force of the environment, is another abuser, and it makes sense GW would take that into his identity. Russia feels helpless to it. It is also worth noting that other nations who also had to deal with Harsh winters do not have General Winter as an ally. He only protects Russia.

It would also explain why General Winter protects Russia from others attacking him. He took the ideologies of his abusers to heart, so GW pushes people away and treats them like threats. He feels strong by holding power and fear over others and force. If I can be stronger, no one can hurt me or would dare try, this is the mentality.

I believe GW can manifest as he does because Russia has magic. It’s canon that Russia can do magic or has a strange magic of his own, so whose to say GW can’t utilize it too. Perhaps even to let himself manifest sometimes in his spirit like form. This is more a headcanon or idea though.

Russia himself however is shown to be very passive with his bosses. These are people who hold power over him that he can’t really run away from or fight. So his response is to faun or freeze. This is basically stated in the comics (picture below.) and it’s often that alters have a specific role. Russia’s would be to people please those who he can’t fight. Making General Winter’s job to defend from attack.

3. Russia is shown to dissociate

When he is told to do an impossible amount of work, he just straight up loses himself in a fantasy immediately to escape the reality of the situation. There are other instances too, some in his childhood directly, but this was the most overt. This is from To your Hearts content, Russia!

4. Russia Is Inconsistent

There are times when Russia feels very different from moment to moment.

He goes from open about himself to swiftly sadistic and cold. He has moments of childish behavior to moments of maturity. These, when combined with the rest of my points, are worth noting. He both wants to hurt (possibly destroy) the others, but also be liked by them?

You can’t destroy people and have them like you.

The baltic Trio who lived a substantial amount of time with him still are confused by his unpredictable behavior. Each encounter The Baltic’s have with Russia is marked by a fear of what he might do. And not having certainty, thus they say things without knowing if it’s safe or not.

Even to Lithuania, (Whom Russia often shows Vulnerability to, in moments like bloody Sunday and Sharing his dreams in Outsourcing Sequel)living with Russia feels a strange theme park where he never knew what to expect. Lithuania has been shown to be great in strategy and games of wit, and a commendable leader with great people skills, yet he only has a general idea of Russia’s behavior? He is seen advising Prussia and Moldova that Russia likes it when people laugh or cry easily (This being predictable to Russia and thus easier to navigate social situations with) so it’s not like Lithuania isn’t paying attention. Russia shows moments of vulnerability and his thought process in panels like Bloody Sunday, which is quite telling as to what he believes are his responsibilities, and how the world works.

Now the real question is “why is he like this?”

He only understands the world from the point of view of someone who still lives in the abuse and knows no other options. He never had anyone teach or show him different. His world is ruled by who is the strongest, and if you can obey the strong you won’t get hurt or discarded. “We don’t want children who can’t play nice,” sounds like something an abuser told him frequently in his youth.

Russia just doesn’t have a support system due to his strained relationships with everyone. So he keeps relying on old defense mechanisms, hence letting General Winter step in when something threatens his sense of safety.

Nearly Every time (at least that’s what I noticed) Russia is emotionally vulnerable to someone, he suddenly changes to be sadistic or scary. It successfully pushes the person away and Reestablishes the fear of Russia in the individual, returning him to a state of being feared and alone where none of the other countries can hurt him. Examples below.

France talking to Russia after meetings and asking him personal questions would result in Russia ending the conversation by scaring him with a scsry remark and aura suddenly.

Russia Comforting China after Japan turns on him, he is kind and compassionate at first, but suddenly changes at the end.

The Baltic Trio never knows what to expect. He frequently uses fear and force to keep them.

This behavior seems directly contradictory to wanting friends and having a warm and lively home. So GW still reacts with a trauma response, and Russia reacts in line with his wishes of making friends and having others around him. The Use of force and intimidation is naturally the middle ground between their wishes. Russia believes everyone is his friends, and doesn’t see how his behavior is pushing people away. Other times he seems to want friends to like him back, like when he sent France an anonymously written letter to his radio show. However he has wishes that contradict.

Now, I think he sees friends as people he can keep near him that he enjoys the company of. (This doesn’t need to be mutual or involve trust, just force) but those wants directly contradict.

I think GW is passively influencing him with some of the behavior rather than switching out right, but either option still would have the same effects. Passive influence is when an alter is close to the front, or feels/thinks something strong enough that it affects the person at the front. Making them behave in a way that is ooc for them, but not the other who intentionally or unintentionally influenced them.

This would explain sudden shifts to a cruel threatening position with other nations, something that will most likely always be a threat GW needs to defend against. He is particularly cold and defensive with anyone that has a chance to hurt him, (or tries to look into his psyche) regardless of if they made a move to do so.

More on passive influence can be found in the sources at the bottom under educational playlist.

5. Misc. Points of knowledge

Russia’s character originally was meant to be a cry baby, and only when he drinks, has a complete switch in personality. Frankly I’m glad he was changed to the complex guy we have now. However I think this concept wasn’t fully lost.

His character song, Winter, seems to talk of him experiencing freezing to death each Winter. Further adding to his repetitive trauma.

It is not unheard of for nations to have disorders and conditions. Australia has ADHD, Prussia is Albino, Lithuania has severe anxiety (and possibly PTSD), so who is to say a nation like Russia can’t have a dissociative disorder?

It is stated in one of Russia’s character bios that “General Winter is always with him”, however where? I don’t physically see him, but perhaps we can’t because he’s sharing a body with Russia.

In summary

Russia dissociates under stress

Russia has repetitive traumas and an ongoing history of abuse all his life

Russia has inconsistent behavior and attachments

General Winter could certainly be a separate personality and functions exactly like an introject/persecutor alter would to their host.

Russia acts out and damages relationships, acting in inconsistent ways that might play out his own abuse, and/or reflect his desires to keep others near him.

As a note, I actually have DID, so this could be my projecting, but please don’t yell at me about how I made a “villain” have DID and feed into evil alters and split Stareotypes. I would only like to raise interest and provide an example of what a misrepresented disorder can look like. And the links below are there if you want to make your mind up for yourself and educate yourself if this inspires your portrayal of him! This isn’t meant to be insensitive, I’ve been working on this post for months to word it as sensitive as I could while also acknowledging Russia is still responsible for his and GW’s actions. Saying he has DID isn’t to excuse it, just explain it.

Don’t erase his victims, but don’t erase that he also is one.

(This blog below was also really helpful, but this post covers a lot of Russia’s earlier trauma and his mentality)

https://ellawritesficssometimes.tumblr.com/post/175060886956

Research for DID and OSDD 1b below: (along with links to comics)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm56LzW0BA_P7-yL3rK7INZDDozTayJvJ

https://www.hetarchive.net/blog/tag/russia/

http://hetarchive.net/tag/russia/

http://www.hetarchive.net/blog/2013/10/11/blog-entry-1411/

https://hetalia.fandom.com/wiki/Russia

https://www.hetarchive.net/blog/2019/01/29/about-the-fact-that-russias-history-is-too-scary/

Below is for an example of dissociation:

http://www.hetarchive.net/blog/2019/02/28/to-your-hearts-content-russia/

https://youtu.be/ZV3ToVA5BqQ

youtube

https://did-research.org/origin/comorbid/dd/osdd_udd/index.html

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percysmarguerite · 3 years

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ANASTASIA THE MUSICAL DRAMATURGICAL INFORMATION

I had to research all of this information as part of an assignment for one of my classes this past year at university. Enjoy!

disclaimer: I am not Russian, and do not have a super big in-depth background in Russian history, culture, or geography. The following information is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but parts of this post involve heavy amounts of conjecture about travel times, and it’s also possible that there may be some errors, of which if you spot any, of course, please correct me.

content warnings: This post discusses at length the historical/canonical death of the Romanov family, along with brief implication/discussion of animal death

Anya and her Fitbit

when Anya says she walked Russia, girl ain’t kidding

If she walked from city to city without ever hitching a ride, girl got her steps in

from the jobs that she mentions she has worked in the show, she has chronologically worked in the following places

Perm - hospital worker

Odessa (located in modern-day Ukraine) - dishwasher

St. Petersburg/Leningrad - street sweeper

prior to Perm, she was living with her family in the Ipatiev House (also known as the House of Special Purpose) in Yekaterinberg, but following the death of the Romanovs, the bodies were transported first approximately half an hour north to the Koptyaki forest, then once again south to Ganina Yama, which is about half an hour west of Yekaterinberg (these distances considered for vehicles not for walking)

Anya mentions being found on the side of the road, with fresh vehicular tracks in the snow (it was July when this happened, and I attempted to figure out how likely snow would have been to occur, but didn’t really come up with anything conclusive, but it leads more towards being unlikely but not entirely outside the realm of possibility), and recounts the events that happened in the basement, which means that she likely escaped from the truck afterwards somewhere between Yekaterinburg and the Koptyaki forest

So the following distances are according to Google Maps with the walking option turned on, so obviously take this with a grain of salt, but here is the approximate time it would take to walk between those areas without stopping:

Yekaterinberg to Perm/Koptyaki Forest to Perm (see note below) ~ 3.04/3.2 days (73/77 hours)

Perm to Odessa ~ 21.125 days (507 hours)

Odessa to St. Petersburg ~ 14.0833 days (338 hours)

as mentioned before, Anya said that she was found on the side of the road by fresh tracks, so it’s likely that she didn’t make it all the way to Perm, or even that she walked very far from where she escaped the truck transporting the bodies

Patronymics, diminutives, and historical inaccuracy, oh my!

the musical has a surprising lack of Russian patronymics, as the only named character to really have one is Anastasia, given that she actually has a historical patronymic, but the fact that no one else has one is just like...kinda weird

common fanon is that Dmitry’s full name is Dmitri Sudayev, as that was the name of a real servant of the Romanov family. Sources very on what his full name is, Dimitri Floydorovich Sudayev or Dimitry Nikolayevich Antonov, but the historical record lists his father’s name as Nikolai Aleksevich Sudayev, which means that in all likelihood his name would be Dmitry Nikolayevich Sudayev

however, given that Dmitry’s backstory was changed for the musical and is no longer a former servant of the Romanovs but instead the son of an anarchist that died in a labor camp, his patronymic and family name are technically kind of a free-for-all

as mentioned in the musical, his diminuative is Dima

One of the men involved in the killing of the Romanovs was named Stephan Vaganov, which is presumably where Gleb’s surname comes from, which makes Gleb’s patronymic Stephanovich

ergo, his full name is Gleb Stephanovich Vaganov

the diminutive for Anastasia is NOT Anya, it is Nastya

Anya is a diminutive of Anna, which itself derives from the name Hannah

this itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because Anya had amnesia, and wouldn’t know her name and the correct diminutive

Lily’s surname (Malevsky-Malevitch) is an example of a double surname, which is an indication her priviledge and higher social class, as they were adopted to distinguish from different branches of the same family, and to differentiate between different members of the same family as well

now onto my favorite controversial name from the show: Toby. Anya mentions having a dog that she holds to her during the moment where the Romanovs are killed, which is true to historical record, except her dog wasn’t named Toby. His name was Jimmy. I have literally no idea why they felt that it was necessary to change the dog’s name. It’s not even hard to find this information out, it’s in practically every account on the Romanovs, and even can easily be found on the Wikipedia page.

Jumping off a moving train (not clickbait!) and the return of the fitbit

Anya mentions that they will take the train at midnight from the Finland station, which is obstensibly the St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky Station, which handles westward travel towards Helsinki and Vyborg

if they had remained on the train, they probably would have taken the route that Anya, Dmitry, and Vlad take in the movie, which is the train to Finland, then a ship across the Baltic Sea to Denmark, then traveled across Germany/Brussels/etc. until they reached Paris

However, the musical trio are forced to leave the train once Cheka officers arrive looking for them

so they just, you know. no big deal. jump off of a moving train.

they then turn around and head south and west back towards Poland, likely to avoid being caught at the Russian/Finland border, which is mentioned by Gleb in the musical

and then they walked across a third of Europe

in total, to walk from St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky Station (in St. Petersburg) to Paris, France it would have taken ~ 21.3 days (512 hours) without stopping (not counting the time it would have taken for them to walk back to the train station)

from the train station to ~10km northeast of the Polish border (mentioned by Dmitry), it would taken ~ 7.625 days (183 hours) without stopping

it’s also good to note that at some point, they managed to pick up a driver who took them through France to just outside of Paris, and we can assume that they possibly were able to hitch rides for other stretches of the journey, but that the stretch from the train station to Poland is implied to have been walked in entirety by the musical

which means that for the journey from north of St. Petersburg to Paris took anywhere from one to four weeks or so

I hope all of this information was interesting to any fans of the show out there! I had lots of fun researching it, and glad that I can share all of it with you all. <3

#anastasia #anastasia meta #claire.txt #it's not quite meta but that's the closest tag that i'll get to what this is #this got long but i'm gonna leave it like this

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hetalia-has-a-secretary · 3 years

Note

hugs for everyone, right? let's also hug Nordic Five & Baltic Trio then~

I fixed the error and Norway is now part of the ask! Enjoy!

Oh god, I haven't thought about these guys in forever! But I shall try my hardest! (Immediately pulls up youtube to watch clips of them all)

Hugging the Baltic Trio and the Nordic Five!

Baltic Trio

Lithuanian:

Is super stiff when you hug him for the first time. His arms will stay at his side for the whole hug.

But the more hugs you give him the more relaxed he gets.

He's been through a lot so sometimes the hugs are pretty tight on his behalf.

Like he's scared to let go and lose you

Now if you're in a close relationship with him the hugs can be quite playful.

He's the kind of guy to teasingly squeeze you a little tighter, and more than once.

Long hugs are a must on a cold day!

Even if it's in public. Unless you don't want it.

So hopefully you don't mind!

Estonia:

He's a very confident hugger.

Will go "Oh my" every now and then, as if he was surprised by the hug.

Soft clothes for a soft hug!

Very cozy hugs TM

Try not to fall asleep.

He also wouldn't let go until you pull away, so in general his hugs are really chill, and comforting.

If you're close to him his hugs don't really change, except you can hear a very happy sigh when you hug.

And maybe the hug lasts a bit longer than expected. Some days he might refuse to let go.

Latvia: (he is a smol child, and we will respect him as such! Even if he drinks...)

Giving him hugs makes the poor guy almost nervous.

Due to... Obvious reasons, physical contact of any kind makes him anxious if he doesn't know someone.

However he does tend to get attached to someone quickly so the nervous hugs will turn into clingy, and desperate hugs

Like he's seeking protection.

Hugging Latvia can also cause him to get emotional.

So sometimes those hugs will turn into a therapy session.

I be patient with him, and all will be fine!

Nordic Five

Sweden:

Despite popular belief he is a pretty good hugger.

His hugs are very quick, but very strong.

But the longer you get to know him, the better the hugs get, to be honest.

And the closer you get to him, the more playful they seem to get as well.

Unless you're out in public.

He really loves it when you run up to him for a hug, and you can entice a small "Humphf" out if him when you do, and honestly he just kind of melts after that?

Definitely an affectionate hugger.

Be forewarned he likes to slightly lift you up when he hugs you!

Denmark:

Best Bro Hugs TM

He will accept any and all hugs with literal, open arms.

He likes to engulf you before trying to bend you backwards, but just a hair.

If he can't you'll get a real good, but soft, squeeze!

Now in a closer relationship the hug doesn't really change, but you do figure out he's just trying really hard to get a small laugh from you.

On special occasions he's the first to go for a hug, and when he does they're usually really soft, and almost a nuzzle like hug

Wants to spin you like a princess so badly, even if he can't he'll express it to you, he just wants to see you smile!

Finland:

Why does he smell like sugar cookies?

Oh he doesn't have just a hug, apperantly he also has a cookie for you, for some reason?

He always seems to have some kind of surprise for you? But it's only you?

Eventually he admits it's a way of returning the hugs since not a lot of countries seem to appreciate his enthusiasm.

Hugs buddies you now are!

The closer you get to him, the more frequent the hugs will get.

But they aren't glued to the hip kind of hugs.

They're quick and meaningful.

Will probably refuse to let go if your sad.

Iceland:

You want to hug... Him?

He's EXTREMELY stiff, and a bit shaky when you hug him as a stranger or acquaintance. Like do not expect a hug in return.

The only way your gonna ever get hugs from him is if you're close (or if it's like your birthday or something)

So the closer you get the better.

Actually, he might start choking up the next few times you hug him if you're close friends.

Therapy hugs!

And if you get him to talk during a good warm embrace, you should entice him to continue.

He was red as the sunrise the first time he asked you for a hug.

But man was it a good hug. And he really does appreciate it.

Also enjoy the smell of liquorice!

Norway:

He is very shy when it comes to physically contact, especially if you hardly know each other!

He doesn't mean to shy away, it's just stressful for him.

So don't try and hug him in public, ESPECIALLY in front of the other Nordics!

Also expect some whining every once and a while

But don't be fooled he warms up pretty quickly to you!

The closer you are in the relationship the more willing he is, but he finds it extremely hard to go to you for hugs

He'll come up to you, blush across his stern face, and he'll lightly poke you.

That's your cue to engulf him in a warm, Cuddly hug!

I'm sorry for those who missed out on Norway's hug the first time around! I will be more careful to not let the draft glitch happen again! I hope you enjoyed these!

#hetalia #hws #hetalia beltic trio #hetalia nordics #hetalia lithuania #hetalia latvia #hetalia Estonia #hetalia Sweden #hetalia finland #hetalia Iceland #hetalia Norway #Hetalia Denmark

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urmomsstuntdouble · 3 years

Note

If ur still doing the 100 followers thing, well I challenge YOU with deciphering Lithuania.

ok anon thank you so much for asking this question because i have in fact recently fallen in love with lithuania, because they are such an interesting character! (also hhhh im so sorry for how late this is)

Gender

As you may have noticed, I usually use they/them pronouns to refer to Lithuania. I hc them as being nonbinary and using he/they pronouns, though I personally prefer to use they rather than he in that case because. Idk what pronouns you use. But in my experience it’s really hard to get people to call you ‘they’ when you go by ‘he/they’ or ‘she/they’ or smth like that. Though I don't imagine any of the nations are very attached to their “birth gender” (are nations born???), lithuania is one of those who is a bit less attached. They’re just sort of there, in terms of gender. In my headcanons i also think this has something to do with religion, as lithuania was one of the last european countries to convert to Christianity- just because so much of gender as we know it comes from christianity and what people in the 16th and 17th centuries considered a ‘good’ christian. Thats not to say that there are no gender roles in other religions, but that the way westerners typically conceptualize gender has quite a lot to do with the religious conflicts occurring within christianity. Like you can trace the ideas behind the nuclear family archetype back to the protestant reformation. Additionally, I hc them as being Jewish, which further distances them from the western christian gender roles (though that’s not why i hc them as jewish! More on that later). Finally, i just like myself some trans/nb characters. There’s so few popular trans hcs and that makes me kinda sad ya know? Welcome to the trans agenda its just me projecting onto all my faves

Mental Health

Okay, so, i think it’s pretty well known that lithuania’s mental health is wack. They’re often characterised as being a very anxious person, but i think the ways in which they’re anxious is super interesting. For one, they are extremely conflict averse and like to avoid it by being a sort of people pleaser. It’s a sort of defense mechanism, because nobody can hate you if you do whatever they say. Like, if you let people be shitty to you, they won’t hate you for your personality. This is clearly flawed logic because then people are still going to be shitty to you, but. It makes sense to liet. In their mind, it’s okay to let people hurt if your reason is sound enough- Because if they’re not super emotionally engaged in a relationship that’s unhealthy for them, then they can’t get hurt, right? Of course, they can. A good example of this is their relationship with Russia. I think tolvydas sees compliance as necessary there, in order to avoid being hurt. The thing is…compliance is also hurting them, even if they see it as ‘worth it.’ To them, behaving in a submissive way is a survival tactic. A really bad one, but a survival tactic nonetheless.

This also plays into their tendency to be self-martyring. I think Tolvydas is very good at fighting, and all around a really awesome warrior (strong aragorn energy), which makes them think that they need to be the one to save everyone. Hero complex, sort of. This, coupled with their almost maternal care for Latvia and Estonia, makes them feel like they have a sort of weight-of-the-world on their shoulders. Though Estonia and Latvia do look up to them a lot, Tolvydas can sometimes fail to realise that they are also their own people and can fight their own battles. He feels a sort of obligation to protect them due to their shared culture and languages as The Baltic Trio, though it doesn’t go much further than a sense of obligation. They spent most of their youth fighting, to the extent that that’s most of what Tolvydas personally knows as ‘life,’ but they never actually got to know the other two Baltics very well until the modern day. They have to protect, have to be a caregiver, but they don’t actually know super well the things they’re trying to protect. It’s both a sense of obligation to protect as well as the sense that this is all they’re good at and as long as they’re fighting for a morally just cause, that’ll do.

I think something that would expose this flaw would be when they were first taken over by the Russian Empire in the 1790s, they were pretty miserable about a lot of things- Like the loss of all their territory and the sudden statelessness of their people- but a big one would’ve been the loss of Poland. This isn’t meant to be super shippy, but you know. They were united into one kingdom, and they had been for centuries, so i don’t imagine it was an easy separation. Though this is more up for debate where real people are concerned, these characters were essentially a big part of each other, ya know? Regardless of how much Lithuania actually likes Poland, they’re still a part of each other and that separation will undoubtedly be painful. Anyway, all that is to say that this separation was at the forefront of their mind during the beginning of the 19th century, and they let it sort of prevent them from taking care of the other Baltics. The issue with that is that they still considered themself to be protecting Estonia and Latvia, even though, in reality, nobody was. Also in reality, Lithuania was making themself out to be the worst off, and were generally sort of annoying to be around at this point in time. Their whole woe-is-me attitude wasn’t fun, and they were hypocritical in that they saw themself as being a better friend than they actually were. They still see themself as being a great friend, and though it’s improved in recent years, they’re still sort of. Flighty, i guess, where friendship is concerned. There was also a lot of annoyance by the other baltics about them being so self-martyring- Tolvydas was Ivan’s favorite, after all (that’s not necessarily a good thing, but. He was softer on them in certain ways). Anyway, I guess the big takeaway of this paragraph is that Liet often lets their self perception cloud the way they act in relationships.

Much of the stuff I’ve mentioned so far is a result of them having quite a lot of PTSD. I think Lithuania’s character tends to be explored through a few common lenses, those being the medieval vibes of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and through being oppressed by the Russian Empire/Soviet Union. Not to say that there’s not a lot of other content about them, but this is what I see most often. I think that all the nations have some form of PTSD, but with Lithuania it’s very pronounced, and it’s made clear that a lot of their tendencies are a result of past trauma- Like the need to take care of others. This is likely originating with their childhood, as they grew up in a very violent environment where their survival was never guaranteed (survivor’s guilt much?) and violence was just the way of things. This is where the need to protect comes from. There used to be several more Baltic nations, though you could argue that now there’s only two- Lithuania and Latvia, as Estonia does not speak a Baltic language and would really like to be considered Nordic.

Finally, Lithuania is also an interesting character where forgiveness is concerned. I think their sense of morality is very black and white, so some people (Feliks) will be easily forgiven where others (Ivan) will not. In reality, I think it would definitely be valid for Tolvydas to hate both of them, yet they don't- Because they decided that Feliks was a friend and Ivan was not. Both Feliks and Ivan care very deeply about them, but neither treats Tolvydas in a very good way. Of course, I’m aware that the situation in the Russian Empire/USSR and the Commonwealth were very different, but I’m talking about these three dudes and their relationships with each other beyond the lens of politics. Because Feliks tried to be their friend in a way that didn’t hurt them tremendously, and because. Look at them, Feliks isn’t 5’4 and can’t hurt you. They��re not an intimidating person and they’re not incredibly powerful like Ivan is. Though that’s not all of it- Feliks’ feelings for Tolvydas are definitely a purer, more selfless type of love than what Ivan feels for them- it makes it harder for Tolvydas to hold a grudge against them. Whereas for Ivan, their relationship was about control. He needed to control them as a way of expressing how he felt about them. He represents a lot of what Tolvydas fought against in their youth, so of course they hate him. Of course, I don’t think they like holding grudges. They want to be able to care for everyone, because they know that everyone deserves to be treated well and cared for and all that. You can't exactly do that if you hold a grudge against someone, so it actually kind of sucks for them when they see someone they hate suffering. It’s a sort of conflict of interest- The caregiving instincts vs the hatred for this person- and they often don’t know what to do in that situation. Usually they wind up helping but not happy about it. They just don’t want to see others suffer, despite the fact that they dislike this person (Russia is of course the exception. They don’t want to help him at all anymore).

Relationship with family

So, this is a bit of an interesting topic. I think the Baltics consider themselves family just because of what they’ve been through together, but they’re not actually blood related. Though they share similar cultures, and languages, they’re just not related. Maybe Lithuania and Latvia are cousins, but yeah. Lithuania sees themself as the head of their little family, as they have the oldest surviving European culture and language. They sometimes get in their head about that, and can act like both a mom friend and a mom who is bad at mom-ing. It’s a sort of self appointed thing, and can be really annoying to the other two. They don’t pay the utmost attention to their fellow Baltics, and are more concerned with physical well being than emotional well being, so, despite establishing themself as a caretaker, do not wind up actually caring for the other Baltics in the ways they need to be cared for.

Fighting style

So, as I’ve mentioned, Lithuania is a talented fighter. They go hard as shit, and can very much kick your ass. I think they prefer to be very technical about how they fight, with something boring like a broadsword as their weapon of choice, but are not afraid to fight dirty. Like rip off an ear with their teeth kind of playing dirty. I think they take fighting very seriously. Though Lithuania as we know it is only about 800 years old, I think Tolvydas is much older. The definition of a nation (a large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory, according to the oxford dictionary) does not require there to be a central governing body, so I think it’s quite possible for Lithuania to be well over 2000. Anyway, all that is to say that they didn’t grow up in medieval times, so by the time they’re like. Achieving dominance in Eastern Europe, they’re already very old and well versed in many different styles of fighting. In the modern day, I think they’ve learned more different fighting styles from other parts of the world, but will always fall back on the way they learned how to fight in ancient times.

Religion

So as I mentioned earlier, Lithuania is Jewish in my headcanons (orthodox, specifically. I think they're kinda traditional). I have a couple reasons for this- There has been a historical presence of Ashkenazi Jews in Lithuania, going back to the 13th or 14th century, and this is due to certain legal protections granted to Jewish people under pre-Commonwealth law. They were legally on similar footing to the average free people of Lithuania, and were able to create a slightly more prosperous community than Jews in other areas of Europe. This was also affected by the Black Plague of the 1340s. Orthodox Jews tend to put a high value on cleanliness, and often have two sinks in their houses (my childhood home, for example, had two sinks, and i lived in a majority jewish area). They also happened to be concentrated in Eastern Europe, due to the protections. Because of this, Eastern European Jews have some of the highest sruvival rates for the Black Plague and actually brought up the survival rates of the region as a whole- Though this also resulted in some intense antisemitism, as many Christians blamed Jewish people for the plague even happening, due to their higher survival rates. Despite various expulsions and the loss of legal rights, the Jewish population remained relatively steady up until world war 2. Jewish people made up about 10% of the total population of Lithuania in 1941, and 45% of the total population of Vilnius. (To put this in perspective, the entire world population is only about 0.2% Jewish). Anyway, all this is to say that it’s not out of the question for Lithuania to be Jewish.

Extras/Fun stuff

Lithuania loves reading, especially the fantasy/fairy tale genre. It makes them nostalgic without the trauma of reading historical fiction.

They’re also very musically gifted, and can play the piano, bass, ukelele, and flute.

They wear docs.

They love hot chocolate.

They remind me of both Aragorn from lotr and Hozier. They’re such a sweet lad.

Bicon who has like 5 people thirsting for them at a given moment but is either oblivious or not looking for a relationship right now.

Here are my fics with lithuania as a main character!

My previous character analyses of lithuania (sorry they’re mostly in shipping contexts, rip) and another good analysis someone else did

My playlist for them

and i think thats it! of course i could always talk more about them, but those are my thoughts for now! thank you so much for the ask, i hope i was able to meet your challenge!

writing requests

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cooltrainererika · 4 years

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Alt-Baltic Pokemon teams! (+Updated concept art)

I finally finished this gsoxlaunsisd-

Another picture for @aphbalticweek2020 ! ...Over a month late. Hopefully it will still catch some attention. @_@. I want to submit a fic and was planning to draw the Hetalia Emblem versions of them too, but Augh school just began again and my PC broke and ffffff... I’m posting this from my phone and the Tumblr app sucks.

So here’s my versions of the Baltic trio as Pokémon trainers! It was probably a mistake doing all the coloring in Photoshop...

I had this idea for a while. I only had an idea for a full team for Liet, but I found that I was actually able to come up with full teams. I had this idea since looking at a Japanese video and other Japanese artists who did this concept... And in typical Japanese Hetalia fashion, focused mostly on character quirks and, if there was any reference to the actual nation’s culture, surface level things. So I started forming ideas like this sort of as a response to those. Though there’s someone on Amino who similarly goes through the effort! I’m sure you’ll find them if you search for Hetalia Pokémon teams.

Also, many aren’t to scale, but so many Pokémon are too huge to fit into a team shot at their real in-game size. Also damn you GameFreak for not having releases in smaller languages. I couldn’t make nicknames derived from their local names because there aren’t any, and certain diacritics have to be omitted.

Lithuania

I think I’m getting better at drawing Alt-Liet! But since this is in the Pokémon universe, I also tried drawing him with his canonical hair. I feel his favorite types would be grass, ghost, and bug.

Uzuhuol

Trevenant♂

Type: Ghost/Grass

Ability: Natural Cure

Possible ace Pokémon. From the old Pagan Lithuanian belief that spirits from dead ancestors resided in trees, as well as Lithuania’s connection to forests. One of Tolys’ oldest and most reliable companions. Name is a poetic word for “Oak”, the tree of the most important god in Lithuanian mythology. I feel Trevenant captures how I write Alt-Liet pretty well, and especially what separates him from canon Liet. Though I did debate what his signature Pokémon would be quite a bit.

Moveset:

Forest’s Curse

Phantom Force

Destiny Bond or Hidden Power (Electric)

Wood Hammer

Austeja

Vespiquen♀

Type: Bug/Flying

Ability: Pressure

Based on Lithuania’s long tradition of beekeeping. There is evidence that long ago, in ancient Lithuanian culture, bees were among the most respected of creatures, being referred to as if they were humans. There is probably no greater evidence of this than what she is named after, the goddess of bees. More info can be found here: https://balticmythology.tumblr.com/post/124316160169/baltic-mythology-austėja-austėja-ancient Lithuania also has a longstanding meadmaking tradition, and you can even apparently buy mead in supermarkets there. In fact, in my old concept art, you can see him holding some. Also has been with Tolys since forever, possibly being his first. While I forgot to convey this, is often next to Uzuhuol, being almost inseparable.

Moveset:

Attack Order

Defend Order

Aromatherapy

Dual Wingbeat

Egle

Servine♀

Type: Grass

Ability: Overgrow

Also one of Tolys’ oldest companions. Despite their types being polar opposites, surprisingly close with Gabija. Named after the queen of serpents in Lithuanian folklore (with no ė because the Pokémon naming system doesn’t allow Lithuanian letters), also the word for “spruce”, and readers of my previous stuff involving Baltic myth know that snakes had very important places in Baltic cultures as the animals of the sun goddess. Though Eglė was a water serpent. Because of the queen thing I did consider making her a Serperior, but there were too many big Pokémon in the picture.

Moveset:

Solar Beam

Magical Leaf

Safeguard or Sunny Day

Leaf Blade

Gabija

Rapidash♀

Type: Fire

Ability: Flash Fire

Named after the Lithuanian goddess of the hearth. Though her actual representative animals are cats and roosters, so thinking about it maybe I could have given him a Combusken or Litten, but I decided on Rapidash because I headcanon Alt-Liet has a Žemaitukas pony, plus the imagery of a white horse corresponds to the coat of arms.

Moveset:

Flame Charge

Stomp

Flame Blast

Smart Strike

Cepelinas

Drifblim ♂

Type: Ghost/Flying

Ability: Unburden

Vilnius is one of the few European capital cities where hot air balloons are allowed to fly, with them also apparently being a relatively common sight in other Lithuanian cities like Kaunas, and there are more of them per person in Lithuania than any other country. Apparently, they symbolize freedom there too. His name is Lithuanian for “zeppelin”, which is kind of fitting considering that’s kind of what Drifblim is in the first place, but more importantly that’s also the name of the national food of Lithuania.

Moveset:

Shadow Ball

Phantom Force

Tailwind

Payback

Kvapas

Spritzee♂

Type: Fairy

Ability: Healer

I couldn’t come up with a good name, so uncreative name, blah. Lithuania is the only country with an official perfume scent. Plus, fairy types fit him pretty well too. I guess Alt-Liet wouldn’t be the type to have such “feminine” looking Pokémon, but maybe it isn’t that implausible? Idk, I needed to give him a final Pokémon.

Moveset:

Fairy Wind

Sweet Scent

Charm

Echoed Voice

Augh, make a Stork Pokémon already, GameFreak... It would be perfect for the core Commonwealth trio, it would be a cute symbol of the relationship between Liet and Belarus, and a reminder of him and Poland’s connection, since they would have one too.

Latvia

Unfortunately I drew him in this weird position that didn’t let me put in a lot of bigger Pokémon, so he got a bunch of smaller Pokémon. Pretend some of them are just about to evolve or something. But happy I got to draw him in a hockey shirt like I wanted to last time but forgot. Also he seemed to end up with noodly Pokémon a lot, but that’s half coincidence and half because of the position I drew him in, not intending to draw a full team, and I was thinking I’d just draw Snivy and Ledian.

Oh, and I’ll be omitting moveset s from here due to time. Check the reblogs if you’re interested, I might add some.

Misinausis

Snivy♂

Type: Grass

Was considering making Serperior his signature Pokémon due to him owning a pet grass snake in Alt-talia, but for some reason I kept it a Snivy. I guess because I like the idea of him carrying it in his hood. I might draw him with Serperior if I have the chance to though. But his name is just the old name for “grass snake” (“Brass-ears”), I still can’t come up with a creative name for the poor thing, blah. Much like his Alt-talia counterpart, he usually stays out of his Pokéball and rides around on his head or in his hood if he’s wearing one.

Marite

Ledian♀

Type: Bug/Flying

The national animal of Latvia is the two-spotted ladybug. And that’s adorable. Apparently they have a very beloved part in Latvian pop culture. I was considering using the new Galar ladybug Pokémon, but I didn’t really think that the mad scientist/UFO motif fit. Though Blipbug’s nerdy look might have fit considering Latvia’s very good education rate, as to why one is in reserve.

Carnikava

Elektross♂

Type: Electric

Yeah, this choice might be surprising, but I wanted to include some fish Pokémon; and apparently lampreys are pretty abundant in Latvia, and are also eaten very often, with lamprey even being common in supermarkets (though that does make this kind of morbid lol).

Janis

Phantump♂

Type: Ghost/Grass

Latvia has similar mythology to Lithuania, and I did want to make him a Trevenant, but again, the floaty way I drew Latvia (though I guess he does look like he could be sitting too?). I thought that related characters having one Pokémon from the same evolutionary line was a cool idea. Much like Lithuania, the Ghost/Grass typing fits him very well.

Daugava

Whiscash♀

Type: Water/Ground

I wanted to include some kind of marshy Pokémon due to the Baltic region being abundant in bogs and other wetlands, and I wanted a real Water Pokémon. I found that apparently, the biggest catfish ever fished on record was fished in Latvia, and there is a particular part of the Daugava river in Latvia known for its abundance of catfish, and much like lamprey, catfish are a common food in Latvia.

Priede

Snover♀

Type: Grass/Ice

Forests cover as much as 42% of the country, with timber being one of the most important natural resources in Latvia, if not the most; so I wanted to include a significantly-sized tree Pokémon. I chose Snover, though if I’d had more space and it didn’t clash with the rest I’d make it an Abomasnow. Spruce trees are extremely abundant in Latvia, and big stretches can even be seen along his beautiful coastlines (wanted to included a reference to those too, but Palosand seems too artificial). Snover also grow berries, apparently, symbolizing more of Latvia’s connection to nature. Plus, Riga boasts the oldest Christmas tree in a city square (though Tallinn disputes that, as I wrote in one of my fics, Estonia’s First Christmas). Will be able to Mega Evolve upon becoming an Abomasnow.

Also considered Flapple, as according to one source apples have a significant place in Latvian culture, and according to another, apple trees as a whole do. ...Unfortunately, those were the only pages I could find with this info, so I had no way of verifying it.

Estonia

His Pokémon lineup came easily once I put my mind to it. ...Unfortunately, for some reason, I’m completely blank on names. So deciding to cut my losses, they’re unnamed, sorry. ^^; While Hetalia tends to put more focus on the techy side of Estonia, I based most of these on the abundant wildlife of Estonia’s vast forests, as he actually has the most forest cover out of the Baltics; as in, literally half his land area is forests, having some of the best forest protection policies in the EU. So he’d have caught most of these just taking a walk through his many, many forests and national parks. I’d presume his part of the world and Latvia’s would be Safari Zone central.

Slowking

Type: Water/Psychic

I knew instantly that Estonia would get Slowking. It was the one Pokémon I was planning to draw for him, with maybe the other being Porygon-2. It fits him perfectly; seemingly slow, but highly intelligent. Also, Slowpoke fish for food, and it’s a Water Type; the sea has a major presence in Estonia, from its many islands to coastline, and fish of course are part of the national diet, much like in Latvia. I was considering using the Galar version because Europe, but not only is its design not fully revealed yet, I realized that it might not even have the Water typing, so even if it’s design was revealed I’d probably stick with the original.

Luxray

Type: Electric

I thought that Slowking would be Estonia’s signature Pokémon, but looking more into it, Luxray is a strong, strong contender, if not even more of a perfect fit. In fact, it fits perfectly in like three ways. Estonia is said to have the highest density of Lynx in Europe. But on top of that, Luxray looks an awful lot like a lion, and I was pretty sure it was one when I was a kid.... Estonia’s coat of arms has three, blue, heraldic lions emblazoned very prominently on it... on a gold background to boot. And on top of that, Estonia has a law where all people have to wear a reflective accessory when out at night (I drew him with one when I last drew him, if you recall), and I’m pretty sure that’s what the yellow patches on Luxray act as... Seriously, this Pokémon was made for him.

Porygon-2

Type: Normal

We all know about Estonia and Skype and it’s internet infrastructure. In fact, I almost named it “Skype” (you’ll see an artifact of that here). A representative of the technical side of him, since I put more weight on his natural side here. I made it Porygon-2 instead of Z because those poor things are apparently as glitchy as Bethesda games. I kind of want this line to get a new evolution, the internet and CGI has obviously come a long way since then. But the Porygon line was the only option I had for “internet/modern tech Pokémon”, so I had to go with it.

Emolga

Type: Electric/Flying

Estonia has some of the few pockets of Siberian Flying Squirrel population in the EU, having gone extinct in Latvia, though they tend to be more widespread in Finland; this may be the Pokémon he shares with him. Also the two electric types could be the bridge between nature and tech that he has.

Swellow

Type: Flying/Normal

I almost chose Taillow, because I realized that Estonia had a way higher proportion of fully evolved Pokémon, especially compared to Latvia, who he shouldn’t actually have such a big gap with. But since a friend of mine said that Swellow looked better in the group shot, Swellow it was. Barn Swallows are the national bird of Estonia, and were even apparently one of the national symbols used in the Singing Revolution by Estonians alongside the cornflower. According to one of my sources, in Estonian folklore, anyone who kills a swallow will go blind.

Leafeon

Type: Grass

Because of the forest cover thing, I wanted a grass type. A tree Pokémon preferably... But I ran out of space. Also I thought that there weren’t any good candidates, as I used the Phantump line twice and most tree Pokémon are either too heavily associated with Japanese culture or tropical, but I could have given him a Snover or Abamosnow like I did with Latvia, especially since Latvia got the coniferous tree despite Estonia being further north, and the Christmas tree debate thing. Oops. Still, I guess it slipped my mind since Latvia’s Snover was a pretty late addition. Maybe some other time. In anyway, I chose Leafeon, since you need to go deep into a forest to evolve it. It really has that magical forest creature vibe to it.

In reserve: Probably a Snover or Abamosnow, for reasons I already mentioned.

Hopefully, I’ll actually be able to get a fic out soon!

Bonus: Updated my concept art again!

#balticweek2020 #aph lithuania #aph Latvia #aph estonia #crossover #pokemon #my art #axis powers hetalia #hws lithuania #hws latvia #hws estonia

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eurosong · 5 years

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SF1 vs SF2: My preference

Morning, folks - this is the second part of my look at the semis, since one became two back in 2008, to find whether I’ve historically preferred one semi or another. Every year, we hear talk of one semi being strongest, but do I agree? Part one can be found here!

2014: Semi-final 1 had Calm after the storm, a lesson in elegance in simplicity that I still think should have won; Not alone, a divisive song, but one whose epic instrumentation I really enjoyed; Moj svijet, one of Montenegro's highlights; and in terms of smaller pleasures, the loveably goofy Cake to bake, the roaring No prejudice, and the uplifting Amazing (which unfortunately wasn't so good live.) It also had the creepy, oedipal Mother, and Running, a fan favourite for many but which I always found very annoying and cynical.

In SF2, we had my personal pick for best Swiss song of this century, Hunter of stars; the smouldering emotion of Silent storm; Georgia bringing the experimentalism once again with Three minutes to earth; the bizarrely wronged, fierce Same Heart; but also, a hell of a lot of unexceptional, filler songs (I put Heartbeat, Something Better, Coming home and Miracle into this category tbh) and some like Rise up and To the sky which actively annoyed me. SF1 wins!

2015: SF1 had some seriously good songs for me - Rhythm inside, one of the best of the Belgian renaissance crop; De la capat, which I found exquisitely moving; the fierce and energetic Warrior; the gentle but poignant Wars for nothing; A million voices, probably Russia’s best effort in the past decade for me; and the sublime Goodbye to yesterday, which I think was well deserving of being at least top 5 that year. It also has the inexorably boring One last breath; the six soloists competing hot mess of Face the shadow; I want your love, a one-man early 2000s boyband throwback where the one member manages to be as annoying as a full quintet; the excruciatingly juvenile Walk along; Autumn leaves, whose qualification over Brod szto tone is a high crime; and Beauty never lies, which was the precise moment Serbia broke this serbophile's heart, abandoning a tradition of using their language and musical tradition with aplomb.

SF2 had the other two thirds of the Baltic annus mirabilis: the delightfully cute and catchy This time and Aminata's soaring, epic Love injected. We also had Montenegro's best ever for me, the heartbreaking and yet affirming Adio; A monster like me, Norway's best song in the past 20 years for me; and a trio of beautiful songs whose non-qualification still surprises me, the delicate Playing with numbers, delightfully saudadic Há um mar que nos separa and the baroque Hope never dies. On the other hand, it also has my least favourite winner of the decade; the worst of the two years Warriors by far from Malta; the dull, repetitive duo of songs that "helpfully" cushioned Heroes, Unbroken and Time to shine; and one of those “annual fan faves I can’t get behind”, the advert for nasal spray that was Here for you. Nonetheless, SF2 takes it!

2016: SF1 was a nightmare semi for me in that my biggest favourites, Jüri's dark but inviting Play, Bosnia's catchy fusion of traditional local music and rap in Ljubav je, and the sensationally wronged Hear them calling all ended not qualifying. Amongst the qualifiers, I quietly enjoyed the rousing Pioneer, the imperious Lovewave and the contemplative Slow down, but most of the other songs - qualifiers or not - annoyed me to some degree, like the generic Sing it away and Falling stars; the hymn to co-dependence that was I stand; the inane, repetitive, bubblegummy Loin d'ici; the dull Walk on worrah; and Miracle, whose qualification was a miracle - from the devil.

In SF2, my favourite also did not qualify - a crime of treason against queen Kaliopi and her deeply moving Dona. I also was hoping that the Slovenian Taylor Swift's quietly sweet Blue and red could get through, but no dice. Luckily, my other big favourites in this semi did get through - the defiant Shelter and perhaps the most uplifting song of the last decade, If love [were] a crime. I also really liked Heartbeat, Aminata's equally accomplished sophomore effort, and the delectable slice of mid-90s britrock that was Midnight Gold. This semi also had the whining puppy lament that was Colo[u]r of your life; the lolcow hotmess that was Last of our kind; two songs in one and neither were good in Icebreaker; and the prissy Made of Stars. SF2 takes it!

2017: SF1 had the delicate, quietly moving City lights; the dark and experimental Skeletons, Azerbaijan's best song ever for me; Amar pelos dois, one of my most favourite ESC songs ever and whose poignancy still hits me in the heart; the soaring Fly with me, perhaps Armenia's greatest moment so far for me; as well as the inexplicable non-qualifiers Blackbird, the deep and meaningful Paper, whose message about depression really got to me; the low key lovely My turn and the banging Line. It also had a ghoulish Keep the faith; the fuckboi anthem that was I can't go on; the embarassing Space; the generic and badly sung This is love; and the equally dull Gravity, On my way, Flashlight and Don't come easy, the last three of which were real dirges.

In SF2, we had the riproaring, cri de coeur that was Origo; Belarus' best for me, the delectable, sweet Story of my life; Dance alone, which was great at least as a record; the guilty pleasure Yodel it and the surprisingly moving Lights and shadows. We also had the twee Running on air, the dull Breathlessly, the earache-inducing Spirit of the night; the abomination that was Maaa fwenn/Moy frenndddd; Grab the moment, which left me completely cold; the generic I feel alive; the unsympathetic Beautiful mess; and the song that put me against thousands of people I know who were raving about it, the 80s throwback and awkward Verona. SF1 wins easily.

2018: SF1 had Mall, my #1 that year, which absolutely blew me away with the combination of lyrics, voice, music and pure emotion, and my #2, Nobody but you, probably the best gospel-tinged song ever sent to ESC for my money. I also really liked the quietly moving When we're old; Lost and found was one of my most listened to tracks before thát performance; and whilst I was dubious about Together's tangentially-related staging, it gave me the good kind of shivers on the night. The rest of the semi is most unremarkable for me, though I have to note that I heavily dislike Fuego, Monsters and the written in 3 minutes-feeling X my heart.

SF2 had another rock out moment with Outlaw in em; the visceral Viszlát nyár; the overlooked but superior feminist anthem of the year in Hvala ne; the criminally underrated, poetic Inje; Goodbye, which tore my heart remembering friends lost; and the bizarrely overlooked, sad but sensual Funny girl. It also had the ironically titled That's how you write a song; the deeply irritating Dance you off; the torturous I won't break; embarassing Light me up and overblown Taboo. SF1 has the two songs that I found the most beautiful of the year, but SF2 has a higher proportion of songs that I found good, so SF2 clinches it.

So, in 11 years, it’s been really even. SF1 has been the stronger of the two semis for me 5 times, SF2 6 times. This year, it’s difficult to guess whether SF2 will go 7-5 for me or whether SF1 will tie it up, 6 years each. We’re excitingly close to seeing!

#eurovision #eurovision song contest #esc 2019 #opinion #esc

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ellawritesficssometimes · 6 years

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Misconception: He’s weak because he’s terrified of Russia OR “stop portraying Estonia as a fraidy cat. He’s strong!!!!”

Reality: Anyone in their right mind would be terrified of Russia when he’s angry. Estonia and the other Baltic nations being scared of him is completely logical. The real Estonia is both a careful and extremely intelligent tactician who is realistically scared of Russia should he get on the latter’s bad side.

To portray and argue that Estonia isn’t scared of Russia is just as one-sided as portraying him to be a trembling, sobbing mess.

Ex:The Baltics aren’t called the Trembling Trio for nothing. They withstood decades of oppressive Russian rule [x].

Ex: Whether it has to do with money or his plans to gain independence, Estonia prides himself on his calculative nature [x] [x].

Most of Estonia’s strength comes from his wit.

Ex: He’s described as an “honor student” [economically and politically] that’s “rational and businessman-like.”

Ex: He acts as Prussia’s senior and gives the latter advice on how to live in Russia’s house [x].

On the other hand, Estonia isn’t completely afraid of Russia either. He’s stood up for himself several times.

Ex: He has no problem confronting Russia when he believes that his blog was hacked by Russians [x].

Ex: He confronts Russia about his bullying behaviour during a world meeting.

Ex: He hangs up on Russia during the 2010 Christmas event [x].

Ex: He was eager to sell any belongings associated with Russia in the post-Soviet era [x].

Misconception: He’s a plain ‘in the shadows character” that is insecure of himself.

Reality: He’s very self-confident.

Estonia arguably has the highest self-esteem of all aph characters. When he commends/ boasts about himself, he truly means it [x].

Bonus facts:

He’s known for his IT technology [x].

He’s part of the Choral club in the World Academy AU.

Estonia is the caretaker of the mochis. He bought most of them from an online auction [x].

He wants to become a Nordic.

When asked why Estonia has so many strange experiences – i.e. being transported into the world of the mochis and the dream in which several male nations were replaced by their nyo versions – Himaruya stated that his “elite glasses summon strange fellows,” [x].

#hetalia #mischaracterization in hetalia #estonia #aph Latvia #aph Lithuania #aph Russia

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apersonwholikeslotus · 1 year

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Latvia: I sometimes drink milk straight out of the container.

Prussia: the cow???

Latvia: What?

Lithuania: Gilbert, w h y?

#aph latvia #hws latvia #aph prussia #hws prussia #aph lithuania #hws lithuania #the real Baltic trio #aph baltics #hws baltics #hetalia #hetalia incorrect quotes

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hibernianbok · 7 years

Note

How would Iceland, England, France and the Baltic Trio act around their crushes?

Iceland:

Poor boy is a nervous little wreck. We’re talking blushing, stuttering, mentally screaming whenever there within three feet of him.

He honestly tries his best to act cool and collected around them, if it wasn’t for big brother Nor’s lesson he wouldn’t know what to do!

If he sees his crush in public he will S P R I N T! No way is he letting his crush see him when he’s not looking his best.

Everyone can tell that Icy likes this person, literally everyone. Unless his crush is dense as hell they would know, trust me.

A ‘Protect Ice from crush’ squad will be formed. Fin distracts, Swed blocks, Den carries him away and Nor is the getaway driver.

If his crush was to talk to him at any point, he will go bright red and avoid eye contact…Some save this boy.

England:

Lets just say he has an… interesting way of acting when he’s around his crush. Ever seen an English man jump into a bush?

He’s more of the ‘Watch from afar’ type of crusher. His crush is more likely to get flowers than talk to him in person.

If he does have to speak with them he will use his gentlemanly charm, Not a word shall be muttered or grumbled~

After confrontation he regrets everything. Why did he make so many witty remarks? God they must hate him now.

Freaks out whenever someone figures out he likes his crush. Ain’t nobody going to ruin his chances!

Will drink away the pain of “Screwing up” when he actually increased his chances. He’s bad at telling who likes him and who doesn’t.

France:

His crush? Do you mean: His new darling S/o? When this man is in love he’s going to show it! He is the country of love after all~

Unlike the other two he will be very forward with his feelings towards his crush are going to be know by e v e r y o n e

He’ll flirt but carefully, he doesn’t want to be too upfront during the courting stage. He’ll be very careful with what he says.

Anyone and everyone that is close to his crush will be asked about what they like. He wants a click to start off with.

Darling he’s reading every romantic novel in his library, imagining the characters are him and his crush. Such a hopeless romantic~

Blushes like mad when his crush compliments him in anyway. They could compliment his shoes and BAM! Blushy french boy.

Estonia:

Why talk to your crush in person when you can hide behind a username online and compliment their every action right? haha…ha…

He will though. As charming as he may be is confidences behind the screen is alot better then in real life.

When he does speak to his crush face to face he is very careful with what he says, he doesn’t want to slip up in front of them.

It’s not like he will slip up though, the man knows how to charm his way out of a situation! He’ll use this to his advantage.

This boy is the master of back out plans. If he has met his embarrassment limit he’ll do a smooth ‘Gotta work, see you laters’

At night, he will lay on his bed and fantasies about their relationship or what it is soon to be. Maybe one day it will be a reality~

Latvia:

Blushy Baby~ Poor boy looks like a tomato whenever his crush is nearby! Sweet-pea just can’t help his pinkish glow.

He shakes a tiny bit when talking about his crush/to them. He just can’t get them out of his mind!

Anyone that he is closed to will be asked about how he can handle his feelings, even Mr.Russia was asked!

The other Baltic will be his shield. He’ll hide behind them whenever he sees his crush. He is a shorty so height won’t be an issue.

Every time he’s talking to his crush he’ll put on a fake smile and try to at least sound like he’s okay, but his heart is telling him to kiss them.

He’ll probably blurt out one or two things to them without noticing! They shouldn’t be surprised when he talks about hugging them!

Lithuania:

Self-pep talks happen quite often. Although he’ll quite happily have others give him, something about self confidences helps him talk more to them.

He’ll keep a little stress ball in his pocket so when he talks to his crush his nerves are set on the ball, smart thinking Lith!

Poor man can’t hide his feelings even if his life depended on it, anyone that gets to know him can tell he likes this person.

Acting like a gentleman is his courting tactic. He will pretty much be on his knees for his crush, like a loyal servant.

Just for them will he put in that little extra effort in the mornings to look his best. Anything for them to like him back.

He tries his best, he truly does. But if his crush were to confess to him first the level of anxiety and stress would go from 100000 to 0 real quick!

#hetalia #hetalia aph #aph #aph hetalia #hetalia scenarios #hetalia imagines #hetalia headcanons #aph scenarios #aph imagines #aph headcanons #aph iceland #aph england #aph france #aph lithuania #APH Estonia #aph latvia

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minor-hetalia-imagines · 7 years

Note

What would the baltic trio do if one of their best friends was on their period? I'm in love with that other ask...

Lithuania:

Honestly, one of the best friends to have in a time like this.

Sees absolutely no real shame in it, and he’s super easygoing (although, very easily frazzled), so if you call him up and tell him your period is keeping you in bed, he’ll understand.

He’d be happy to drop by your place, bringing you a heating pad and some soup.

Just be careful with your temper, he doesn’t respond well to yelling.

Estonia:

Unlike Lithuania, he kind of sucks at this.

He’s easily squirmy, so details on the bodily functions might make him feel a little grossed out. He won’t say that, though.

He’d be pretty willing to do basically anything to help...except cook. He can’t cook for the life of him. He’ll happily buy you carry out though!

He gives good back rubs, so when you’re feeling all achy and uncomfortable, he’s willing to chill behind you and give you a back massage while the two of you watch a movie.

Latvia:

A very shy guy, he’ll feel pretty awkward about the situation, but he’ll do what he can to help.

He would have no issue with making you some nice, warm comfort food. Or just getting you a pint of ice cream. Whatever you’re in the mood for.

If you feel comfy lying in bed, he’ll be eager to join. Blanket burritos, junk food, and binge-watching good shows on Hulu or Netflix.

Absolutely will not go to the store to get pads. He thinks that’s just too much. Sorry, friend. He will go with you to get them, though.

#aph latvia #aph estonia #aph lithuania #hetalia headcanons #Anon

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hetalia-club · 7 years

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Pottertalia

before I was a Hetalia blog I actually had a Harry Potter blog. I figure hey, why not take my in depth Harry Potter knowledge and apply it to Hetalia. So here is my sorting of Nordics.

Sweden: Slytheirn. He was REALLY HARD. I had to think about this one for awhile actually. But he’s a Slytherin when you get right down to it. Much like another character I’ll talk about on this post. His outward personality is much like a shell. He remains serous and stern and only reveals his true feelings to very close friends. Yet he’s also strong and fierce when he has to be. He won’t back down from a fight but he also would never just rush in without a plan.

Norway: Ravenclaw. Ive seen him in Slytheirn and I can see that. But Ultimately I placed him in Ravenclaw. I don’t think Norway would be happy with being a Slytherin he’s too soft spoken. The main reason why he’s Ravenclaw is for his interest in the unknown. Ravenclaws are know for being excepting of all possibilities. Norway is typically off in his own world talking to his magical friends that only he can see and interact with. He’s reserved and more of a home body. This is a Raven claw to a T.

Finland: Hufflepuff. Of course he’s Hufflepuff. He’s the mom friend of the bunch. Honestly I don’t have to go into this one too much. He’s a Hufflepuff, it’s Finland for crying out loud.

Denmark: Gryffindor. Again another obvious pick. Denmark is loud, proud and everything that makes a good Gryffindor. He never backs down from a challenge even if he can’t win and the idea of danger thrills him. He stands up for his friends and is a major right fighter. Something tells me he’d make an excellent quidditch player as well. Maybe a beater...but that’s a different post...

Iceland: Slytherin. Now I didn’t put him here because he’s sassy. I put him here for why he’s sassy. He uses it as a front. As in that’s not his real personality. It’s a bit of a splash guard. If he pretends to be serious and cool no one will question him or pick on hi instead. Draco Malfoy used the same personality type. He pretended to be cool but was actually a giant nerd. (I’M NOT COMPAIRING HIM TO MALFOY’S ACTIONS! Just his personality.) When he lets the mold break he shows us that he actually does care about his friends. But it’s his trope he’s adapted that lands him comfortably in Slytherin. I think he would like it there.

Other parts:

The Axis, Face Family, The Baltic Trio, Soviet Siblings, Extras 1

#hetalia #aph nordics #aph sweden #aph finland #aph denmark #aph iceland #aph norway #pottertalia

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elizabethcariasa · 5 years

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Tax version of 'Phantom Menace' comes to $15 trillion in global tax haven money moves

Darth Maul apparently — spoiler alert — was killed in The Phantom Menace, but later showed up in subsequent Star Wars productions. His persistence is akin phantom investment transactions that are created simply to lower multinational companies' tax bills. (Photo via Lucasfilm)

What I consider the real Star Wars trilogy came out when I was in college. That's why I've not bothered to see any of the subsequent sequel/prequel movies.

But they came to mind last week when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the University of Copenhagen released a new study on the growth of so-called phantom capital and its costs to global economies.

This tax version of The Phantom Menace is phantom foreign direct income (FDI). Essentially, this is investments passing through empty shell companies without any real business activities, but rather to simply to lower the tax bills of multinational companies.

FDI now accounts for, in the words of the IMF study's authors, an "astonishing" $15 trillion globally.

That amount is about the same as the combined yearly economic output of China and Germany.

It's also substantially more than what all the various Star Wars' films have grossed globally over the decades.

That's also enough for the IMF $15 trillion figure to earn this week's By the Numbers recognition.

Phantom, but substantial foreign money: Foreign direct investment (FDI), notes the report, often is an important driver for genuine international economic integration, stimulating growth and job creation and boosting productivity through transfers of capital, skills, and technology.

That's why so many countries establish policies to attract more of it.

But not all FDI, defined as cross-border financial investments between firms belonging to the same multinational group, brings capital in service of productivity gains.

Much FDI is phantom in nature. The so-called investments pass through empty corporate shells, also known as special purpose entities that have no real business activities.

Rather, notes the IMF study, these shells conduct holding activities, conduct intrafirm financing or manage intangible assets, in many cases simply to minimize the multinationals' global tax bills.

Study authors Jannick Damgaard, Thomas Elkjaer, and Niels Johannesen* say that while phantom FDI doesn't produce the traditional types of economic results for the nations receiving the funds, it does pay off for them.

*Jannick Damgaard is adviser to the executive director in the IMF's Office of the Nordic-Baltic Executive Director. Most of this research was carried out in his previous role as senior economist at the National Bank of Denmark. Thomas Elkjaer is a senior economist in the IMF's Statistics Department. Niels Johannesen is a professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen's Center for Economic Behaviour and Inequality.

"Even if the empty corporate shells have no or few employees in the host economy and do not pay corporate taxes, they still contribute to the local economy by buying tax advisory, accounting, and other financial services, as well as by paying registration and incorporation fees," writes the trio.

The usual tax haven suspects: One thing that's not surprising is the list of nations that welcomes phantom FDI.

The usual well-known tax haven suspects host the vast majority of the world's money movements for tax purposes. Specifically, according to the report:

"Luxembourg and the Netherlands host nearly half. And when you add Hong Kong SAR, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Switzerland, Ireland, and Mauritius to the list, these 10 economies host more than 85 percent of all phantom investments. … For the tax havens in the Caribbean, these services account for the main share of GDP, alongside tourism."

Fighting FDI remains problematic: Despite targeted international attempts to curb tax avoidance, the IMF study says that phantom FDI keeps soaring, outpacing the growth of genuine FDI.

In less than a decade, phantom FDI has climbed from about 30 percent to almost 40 percent of global FDI, as the graphic from the report below indicates.

"This growth is unique to FDI," note Damgaard, Elkjaer and Johannesen, with FDI positions growing faster than world GDP since the global financial crisis.

All countries affected: While phantom FDI is largely hosted by a few tax havens, the trio of economic researchers say that "virtually all economies — advanced, emerging market, and low-income and developing — are exposed to the phenomenon."

"Most economies invest heavily in empty corporate shells abroad and receive substantial investments from such entities, with averages across all income groups exceeding 25 percent of total FDI," according to the report.

These investments in foreign empty shells could indicate that domestically controlled multinationals engage in tax avoidance.

Global tax cooperation necessary: The global FDI network, in addition to identifying which economies welcome phantom investments, also provides a clearer understanding of globalization patterns.

This data will be key in helping worldwide policymakers as they attempt to address international tax competition and work together to deal with taxation in today's globalized economic environment.

You also might find these items of interest:

Global income inequality tied to worldwide tax havens

3 costs of tax evasion: Countries lose more than money

Cross-border tax inspectors give tax cheats no place to hide